It all started when a vacationing Peg Farrell lost the screw to her eyeglasses.

She happened to have with her a pin, with a few beads hanging from it. She slid the pin through the hole where the screw had been. For the rest of the day, people asked where she had found such a unique fashion accessory.

Farrell continued to wear her glasses that way, and was approached everywhere she went.

Farrell's daughter, Nancy Tedeschi, had already patented a jewelry clasp designed for people with arthritis. Farrell told her about the reaction to her glasses and said, "We should do something about this."

That was nine months ago. In November, Tedeschi, a 50-year-old real estate investor and owner of Bennett Abstract Corp. of Ballston Spa, will begin selling iBobs, sterling silver charms that attach to any pair of glasses using a patented screw and washer system.

Those nine months were not easy, and there were times when Tedeschi wanted to give up. Instead, she gave up her real estate activities and dedicated countless hours to designing, testing, researching, setting up manufacturing contracts and preparing patent applications.

She estimates she has invested about $70,000 in iBob LLC so far, all from her personal savings and credit cards. She believes she can do about $4 million in volume the first year, which would require the sale of 200,000 iBobs through the Internet and retail stores.

Trial and error

The first step was to come up with a way to attach the charm to the glasses. Several designs were tried before Tedeschi hit on a screw and washer combination that held the charm in place and allowed it to be changed at will. The only problem was, the pieces were too tiny to handle.

Andrea Van Alstine, director of human resources for iBob, recalled trying to prepare a few glasses in advance of a meeting with a distributor in Massachusetts.

"We dropped them all over the floor, we were licking our fingers trying to pick them up, we were using magnifying glasses ..." she said. "It took an hour to do two charms."

The distributor liked the eyeglass-charm idea, but told Tedeschi to return with a more user-friendly design. She finally came up with screws and washers with break-off tabs that make them easy to handle. Now the iBob can be attached to any pair of glasses in 30 seconds.

The screw itself has inspired another product, a user-friendly eyeglass repair kit Tedeschi plans to market through opticians and drugstores.

Googling china

As difficult as the design process was--and as expensive as it was, with bills for engineering help, prototypes and patent attorneys--it was just the beginning. With designs in hand, Tedeschi had to line up people to produce the charms, screws and hooks, a step she never took with the jewelry clasp.

She spent hours on the Internet, searching for manufacturers. Eventually, she found a woman who connects U.S. entrepreneurs with Chinese companies.

The price was right. The charms she had made as samples cost $6 each. The charms under production in China will cost between 18 cents and 41 cents.

A company in Rochester was contracted to make the screws. The first 1,000 cost iBob $3,650, although Tedeschi said the price will drop to less than a dollar a screw when the volume goes up.

Tedeschi still must find someone to produce the packaging. She is looking overseas for that as well, but does not want to use the same importer, for fear that one person seeing both the charms and the box will put two and two together and produce a knock-off.

Showing off

The iBob, which is priced at $19.95, will be available on the Internet beginning in mid-November. It will make its public debut in early January, at Accessories The Show in New York City. The juried show, which cost $5,000 to enter, is attended by about 15,000 buyers from all over the world.

Tamara Silverstein, the show's account executive, said getting jury approval has become increasingly difficult. iBob was chosen because "nothing like [it] has ever applied to the show."

"It is a very unique idea, and could be a great trend," she said. "I think it addresses the trend of personalization and allowing people to create their own style."

Tedeschi said the charms appeal to a wide variety of people, including the friends of her 75-year-old mother, her 12-year-old niece, her son's 20-year-old girlfriend and even her son himself, because there is something for everyone. Designs include hearts, moons, sandals, beer mugs, animals and sports motifs.

Lynda Kinns, of Kinns & Associates in Clifton Park, has prepared all of iBob's marketing materials. She said that while younger women like iBobs, she sees the main audience as those over 25.

"Those would be the women with the ready cash to spend on something like this," she said.

Kinns' immediate goal is to get the e-commerce site functioning. Once that is done, she will turn to advertising. Tedeschi has not yet set an ad budget, but Kinns foresees a campaign with ads in local newspapers, national fashion magazines and Web sites. This will not be cheap. A quarter-page ad in Accessories, the magazine hosting the January show, costs $2,000.

Tedeschi said she has been approached by investors interested in iBob, but she has turned them all away. She wants to do it herself, even if that means enduring some sleepless nights.

"It does get nerve-racking," she said. "You really have to believe in it. There are times when you don't. I can see why people get frustrated and quit."